Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson

Celebrity News

Cops on the hunt for 22-year-old horse with asthma

Private detectives are on the trail of Ceasar, a 22-year-old nag with asthma who could become the poster steed of carriage horse abuse — if they can only find him.

Ceasar went missing last month after driver Frank Luo was accused of altering the horse’s hoof brand, so he could keep working Ceasar under the license of a healthier 12-year-old pony named Carson.

Call it a case of equine identity theft.

A vet examining the horse noticed that sway-backed Ceasar — who has a breathing problem called “the heaves” and was supposed to be retired — looked way too old to be just 12.

Shortly after Luo was caught, he shipped Ceasar out of town and sold him.

Private eyes hired by NYCLASS, the outfit trying to ban horses from Manhattan, lost the trail in Pennsylvania. They believe Ceasar might now be in Iowa, a common transfer point for horses headed to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.

Animal rights activists protest in the East Village where a screening was being held of a film called “Save NYC Horse Carriages,” narrated by Liam Neeson.Splash News

On Monday night, when the film “Save NYC Horse Carriages” — narrated by Liam Neeson — premiered at the Kraine Theater on East Fourth Street, one of the anti-carriage protesters yelled at the audience filing in, “Where’s Ceasar?”

One of the drivers yelled back, “Not our problem!” But it could become so, if Ceasar is located and brought back to New York to bear witness.

NYCLASS said neigh when asked to name the detective agency. A spokesman said confidentiality was required to protect the integrity of the investigation, and to protect the gumshoes from protesters.